The Article
by LuckyGrrl
Summary: Rory has to write an article on 'How To Get A Wealthy Guy For You.' Complete.
1. The Assignment

Author's Note: Umm, hey again. I've got some writers block, and I wrote this like way long ago, like a very long time. So, I don't really know what to say about it, except that I feel like posting something, and my other chapter for the Just Roomies Sequel is kind of sucky, so I'm rewriting it. But umm, enjoy. Oooh, and Lauren Graham gets all the credit, for the getting a job at the New York Times thing. Well, originally it was Yale, but I switched it. Anyhow, please, do me a huge favor and read on. Thanks.  
  
"Gilmore, since Marge is sick, you're being appointed to cover her column," Rory Gilmore's editors voice snapped her out of her daydream. The entire staff of the New York Times was sitting in a conference room on a dreary Monday morning.  
  
Marge Waterman was the woman who normally did the social column for the paper. The job entailed highlighting the important weddings of important people, and monthly articles on 'how to get a wealthy guy for you.' It was time for the article on how to get a guy when Mr. Beck ordered Rory to take over the column since Marge was on her honeymoon.  
  
"But," Before Rory could go any further she was cut off by her editor's voice once again assigning an assignment to an unsuspecting journalist. She laid her head down on the table frustrated. 'How can I do this article? I write for the World News section,' her mind questioned as the meeting wrapped up.  
  
"I see you got Marge's article for the week," Liz Peterson patted her friend's shoulder after the meeting was adjourned. "I feel sorry for you, but I think Beck gave it to you because your writing is threatening Jack's writing." She laughed, as Jack was the senior staff writer on the Times.  
  
Rory rolled her eyes and walked out of the room with Liz. "Oh yeah, I'm sure that's why." She thought for a moment. "How am I supposed to write an article on how to get a wealthy guy? I don't even know any, I don't think."  
  
"You could write an article on how to get 25 to life for killing a fellow journalist because they're on their honeymoon and you got stuck with their column."  
  
"Oh, I'm sure I could write that one from trial." Rory giggled. "Can you picture me in an orange jumpsuit with handcuffs on trying to catch the details of my own trial? I don't think so." She smiled and sat down at her desk near a big picture window on the third floor.  
  
Liz pointed to the park across the street. "Remember Piccadilly Circus?"  
  
Rory smiled, remembering the fond memory. Two years ago, she and Liz had been foreign correspondents for the Times reporting on the Queen's birthday and big blowout of a party, or 'ball.' The day before the ball, Rory and Liz had gone to Piccadilly Circus and mocked people in their mini cars for hours because they had nowhere to go until the ball.  
  
"I can't believe I ever came back here." She shrugged. "I guess my mom didn't help much either." The day of the Piccadilly Circus outing Lorelai had called Rory's cell phone twenty times and had actual conversations with the voicemail.  
  
"Homesick?" Rory reluctantly nodded, she hadn't been home since Christmas four months ago. "Why don't you see if you can go home to do the article? I mean, Hartford isn't that far from Stars Hollow and there were some hot rich guys if I remember correctly."  
  
"That is true." The twenty four year old Rory responded. Liz had been her best friend since their third year in college together and had gone to visit Stars Hollow a couple times. Of course, the New York City native had thought the town was too small and they had spent most of the time in Hartford. "Maybe I will ask Mr. Beck."  
  
"Ask me what?" Mr. Beck asked, as he walked past the two women chatting. The man was older, gray hair with aging, alert eyes, and he worked day and night for the Times. He noticed Rory was looking out the window almost wistfully. "You okay Gilmore?"  
  
Rory looked up and nodded. "Yeah, I'm just sort of homesick." There were some bags under her eyes, caused from one too many nights staying up until three doing research and writing for her last article on the governments of foreign countries and how it related to the family conditions.  
  
Mr. Beck wasn't the usual boss. The usual boss would breath down your neck as you wrote your article for the Times and then made you re-write it until it was perfect. Beck, as he was known as around the staff, was the total opposite. He believed in his reporters and gave them space to write their stuff. When the articles were turned in, he casually pointed out mistakes here and there, but never made someone re-write things.  
  
Since he wasn't the usual boss, Beck saw the bags under her eyes and grew protective. "Why don't you go home for the week? You can do the article there and get some rest, please. I saw you here a couple nights at two am doing research." He paused. "Don't do that a lot, you'll end up like me." He smiled. From Rory's resume and what he heard about one of his youngest writers, he knew the woman was from a small town in Connecticut and worked her butt off to get where she was. She deserved a break once in a while. The last assignment she had drained a lot out of her, which was one of the reasons he assigned the column to her.  
  
"Are you sure?" Rory immediately asked. "Because I could always stay here and do it, it's not that big of a deal." She looked around.  
  
Beck nodded. "You're going home, in fact, get your things and leave for the day so you can get a head start on that week off." He smiled an old, wise smile and was off.  
  
"Well aren't you the boss' favorite?" Liz leaned forward eagerly after he was out of sight. Of course she was joking, but she also knew that everyone looked after Rory. She brought a breath of fresh air into the stuffy building, and no one wanted her "corrupted" by the big city.  
  
"Shut up, no I'm not." Rory couldn't help but smile as she gathered her things so she could get home to Stars Hollow as fast as she could.  
  
It was around noon when Rory called her mom from the road. "Hey Mom, what's up?"  
  
"Nothing much, I'm just sitting here, waiting for a piano to fall on Michel's head."  
  
"I don't think that'll happen soon."  
  
"Yeah, it will." Lorelai was adamant. "We're getting a piano for the lobby and there are a bunch of guys here carrying it in, and I assigned Michel to direct them."  
  
Rory was about to respond when she heard an angry French voice in the background screaming. As Lorelai explained later on, one of the moving guys didn't have a good enough grip on the piano and it slipped a bit, causing the leg to hit Michel on the head. "Poor guy," Rory sympathized as she pulled into the parking lot at the Inn. "Hey Mom, what are you doing right about now?"  
  
"Well, I'm watching Michel ice his head, which really isn't working, why?"  
  
Rory was at the front door and walked up to the desk, where her mother was standing with her back towards her. "Cause I was wondering if you would like to have some lunch," Rory continued, turning off her cell phone.  
  
"Rory!" Lorelai whipped around and ran to hug her daughter. "It's been forever."  
  
"It's been four months," Michel cut in, groaning from his spot, sitting behind the desk.  
  
"So what, Michel," Rory countered. She never really talked to him much, only when she called the Inn to talk to her mom. "I brought something for you, but I guess you don't get it now."  
  
"Well, four months is a long time, I guess." Michel slowly perked up at the thought of a gift. "What did you get me?"  
  
Rory opened up her bag and pulled out a loaf of French bread and a beret with a logo of a famous French restaurant in New York City. "Ooh, goody, a new beret." Michel's face lit up. Rory looked over at her mom cautiously, never figuring out if he was faking happiness, or he was that easily entertained.  
  
"Why aren't you in the city?" Sookie was surprised as she walked out into the lobby and saw Rory.  
  
"Well hey Sookie, it's nice to see you, too." Rory smiled, but explained anyways. It took a couple minutes to explain, but when she finished, Lorelai demanded that Rory go home and take a nap so she could be awake in time to go to Luke's for dinner.  
  
Rory laughed at her mom's orders. If only Lorelai lived in the city so she could do that all the times that she was up until the wee hours doing research and writing. "Okay, okay. I'm going." She walked out to her Ford Escape and drove off towards the small town she grew up in.  
  
When Rory pulled into the driveway of her old house, she sighed. She hadn't been here since Christmas and missed it very much. She had gotten used to the big city, because she found herself living at a faster pace than other Stars Hollow natives on her last trip. The house was so big, unlike her New York studio apartment. And unlike the apartment, it was filled with personal touches everywhere and there was a certain aura about it. Cheesy in a way, but it was true. Who could resist a monkey lamp? The apartment had pictures, and certain items from home, but that was about it.  
  
"Home sweet, home." Rory muttered as she walked into her old room, which still had Yale apparel on the wall. She let herself fall onto her bed and slowly drifted off to sleep re-memorizing every nook and cranny of her room.  
  
When Lorelai waltzed into her house later that day, and I mean actually waltzed, she found Rory up and about, drinking coffee. "What took you so long?" Rory asked immediately.  
  
"Well, for one, I had to get angry customers from killing Michel just as I was about to leave. Lord knows I almost wanted to leave him to the angry people, but I couldn't."  
  
"What happened?" Rory got off of the couch and walked towards the door where her mom was waiting so they could go to Luke's.  
  
"Oh my gosh, and what did the head guy say?" Rory was heard asking, as the two entered their version of heaven on Earth, Luke's Diner. Lorelai had told her story on the way, and they had laughed the entire time.  
  
Luke wasn't expecting Rory and was seriously surprised when she walked in with her mom. "Hello, aren't you supposed to be at work?"  
  
Rory shook her head. "Why isn't anyone glad to see me?"  
  
"Ooh, I bet Colonel Clucker was glad."  
  
She turned to Lorelai. "Yeah, he was, but that's about it."  
  
"Work?" Luke tried to steer the conversation back on course. It was in danger of crashing in a few moments if it kept going off track. "Here?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, that." Rory turned back to Luke. "My boss assigned me a column from my usual stuff. I've got to write an article on 'How to get a rich guy that's right for you,' or something like that. Liz said he gave it to me because my writing was threatening Jack's."  
  
"How is Liz?" Lorelai asked, drinking the coffee Luke had poured.  
  
"Doing good. She's still going out with Ian." Rory said. "I wonder if she's pulling her hair out right about now because she had a huge deadline for this one thing this week."  
  
Miss Patty, who had been lurking around for the entire conversation put her two cents in. "Why people want to kill themselves with anxiety by writing for a newspaper, I'll never know."  
  
Babette also joined in. "Well, you can meet famous people that way too. You know, at all those sport things." She was always the specific one.  
  
Rory smiled, and thought, 'Those two never change. I wonder who Miss Patty has her eye on now.' When she finished the thought, a young looking UPS man walked into the Diner to deliver a package. Her gaze turned towards the older women sitting at the next table and found them staring at the delivery guy. 'So that's who it is.' She smiled to herself.  
  
The rest of the day was spent catching up with her mother, and talking to her grandmother. Well, talking to her grandmother for about ten minutes and the rest of the time with her mom, but it was the same thing. "So it's all set. I'll be at the Country Club tomorrow afternoon and in Hartford that night."  
  
"Can I come?" Lorelai pouted, half looking at Rory and half watching Dave Letterman on the television.  
  
"Nope, you've got Michel to look forward to."  
  
"Ugh, you really know how to cheer someone up." Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Have fun while I'm slowly dying at the Inn."  
  
The next afternoon wasn't that warm, but wasn't that cold, so Rory dressed in black dress pants and a pale blue fitted button down shirt. She set out in her car to Hartford, to visit the country club. The article wasn't going to be as great as Marge usually wrote, but she had to come up with something.  
  
"Rory?" A husky voice questioned as she pulled up to the front entrance of the club. 


	2. The Country Club

Author's Note: Thank you to smile1, SurferGRRL, and Chad'z Baby for your kind reviews. But other than that, umm, hopefully, this chapter will pick up a bit, more so than the last one. So, thanks for reading, and enjoy.  
  
Disclaimer: Totally forgot to put one in the first chapter, but believe me when I say I don't own any of these people except for the ones you have no idea who the hell they are.  
  
Rory looked out of her passenger window to reveal a tall blonde guy. He looked vaguely familiar until she got out of the car and gave her keys to the valet. There, standing in front of her was Tristan. Tristan DuGrey. ((Big surprise there, right?))That's right, the guy that was sent to Military School during junior year, the guy that always liked Rory but never really told her, and the guy Rory had kissed, the one she would never forget.  
  
"Tristan?" She questioned, just to make sure. The man nodded and grinned, while Rory jumped up and gave him a hug. "How have you been?"  
  
"Great, once I left here." Tristan responded as enthusiastic as Rory was. "But I'm back for family business, and I had time to burn, so here I am."  
  
He gave Rory a quizzical look that read, 'I never thought I would see you here, never in a million years.' Smiling, she answered. "I'm here cause I've got time to burn, too. My boss gave me a week off. Well, a working week. I've got to write an article for the paper. I have to give tips on how to get a rich guy, funny huh? How non-Times like."  
  
"You write for the social section?" Tristan nearly laughed at the horrified look on his former classmate's face.  
  
Rory really did laugh. "No, no, no. I write for the World News, foreign stuff, you know." Tristan nodded, but still looked sort of blank. "I basically stay on the computer all day, by the fax machine and by the phone all day in case something important happens anywhere but the United States."  
  
They were headed towards the restaurant, and were greeted by a headwaiter. "How many?" He stared at Tristan. "Two?" The blonde, blue-eyed man looked at Rory, who nodded, and then nodded as well.  
  
"Hey, I'm a rich guy and I don't want to look like a loser eating alone. That way, I can give you some of those tips you need, and we can catch up."  
  
Forty minutes later and a brunch later, Rory wondered aloud. "Do you know what Paris is up to? We were roommates in college, but after that, we promised to call and write, but we didn't."  
  
"Last I heard, she was here for Christmas, but we must have missed each other cause I didn't see her at my parents party." Rory nodded as he continued. "Do you want some of those tips?"  
  
Laughing, his brunch companion got out her reporters notebook and lucky pen. "Feel free to begin any time." She stated, without looking up when Tristan didn't start talking. She didn't know that he was slowly falling for her again, it happened in romance novels about two long lost friends, but it was happening with Tristan as well. "DuGrey?"  
  
He snapped out of whatever world he was in and focused. "Well, first off, you should be yourself. You shouldn't try to sell yourself; it's not a business deal. Most women think that if you're a businessman all you care about it making a deal. And if you're a rich businessman, from my experience, you don't really want that trophy wife. You truly want to be happy and find that one true love."  
  
When he was done with the first tip, Rory looked up forgetting to keep writing. "Tristan, I truly and deeply hope you do find that one person." She said sincerely when he gave her a look of doubt. But he slowly smiled a smile very different from the one many years ago.  
  
He eventually gave more tips, each of them in his mind tips for Rory who seemed to be still shy around him, even though she was more outgoing. "So, are you all out of tips?" Rory asked, around two pm. They had been talking for about two hours. People, who knew who Tristan was, spied on his table, wondering who the brown haired woman was and why Tristan looked at her differently.  
  
"No, I've got one more." He paused, leaning a big closer. "The woman should always act like Mary." His serious face was given up on when Rory looked confused, wondering if she should write it down or not. "No, you don't have to write it down." He shook his head.  
  
Rory blushed as they both backed away from each other. "Do I still have to spell my name for you?" She asked, knowing the answer.  
  
"I know how to spell Mary." Tristan started. "M-a-,"  
  
The waiter interrupted the duo by coming by the table to drop off the bill. "I'm sorry to interrupt you two." He smiled timidly.  
  
"Don't worry about it," Rory smiled confidently and turned to Tristan. "Hey, I'll pay if you want."  
  
"No, you won't." Tristan said, looking at the waiter. "Thanks for everything." He paid the bill and turned to Rory. "Would you like to go hang out in Hartford? We can look for some rich guys for you?"  
  
"What if I'm already taken?" Rory quickly asked.  
  
"Are you?"  
  
"Nope, but I really don't want to find a rich guy, I just need the tips." She smiled. "Your car or mine?"  
  
"Yours looks fun."  
  
"Mine it is." The two set off for an afternoon full of mystery.  
  
Two hours later they were passing a jewelry store. "Maybe we should go in there and talk to the guys buying expensive rings for their girlfriends hoping to propose." Tristan threw the suggestion out for debate. After a minute, they looked at each other and broke out laughing, then said, "Nah."  
  
"I've got a question for you," Rory said in between bites of an ice cream cone at a local ice cream place. "Why didn't you kiss me goodbye that night?"  
  
"What night?" Tristan was obviously playing dumb. The look on his face betrayed the question. After a long stare from Rory and gave up. "Fine, fine. I didn't because I knew he would take my actions out on you, like you asked me to kiss you goodbye." The last part was almost inaudible that he had to repeat it after Rory questions. "And I had already hurt you enough."  
  
"Oh."  
  
There was a silence that ensued after that, both people just ignoring the awkwardness that came up. They had ignored the past in the conversations that had been going all afternoon; Rory had brought it up the first and last time. "We should be getting back." Rory noticed the clock on the wall that read seven o'clock.  
  
Tristan saw the clock as well and checked his Swiss Army watch as well to make sure. "Wow, time really does fly when you're having fun." He smiled slowly.  
  
Rory drove back to the country club full with questions for Tristan. She didn't want to ask them, they were personal and he had just jumped back into her life for one day. No need to scare him off. The ride back was uneventful, except for a few songs on the radio.  
  
"Rory!" A voice called out as she pulled up in front of the country club around seven thirty. "Over here," The voice called again as she looked around, wondering who was talking.  
  
Tristan saw who was calling out, and turned Rory in the direction. "I do believe it is your grandmother. Now, play nice," He ordered, remembering the tales of Lorelai and Rory at Friday night dinners."  
  
"Tristan DuGrey, it is great to see you," Mr. Gilmore stuck out his hand as the older couple approached.  
  
"Rory, where have you been all this time? New York is too far away," Emily immediately started. "I tried to call you, but I only got that absurd-,"  
  
Thankfully, Tristan came to the rescue. "Hey Ror, don't you have to go meet your mother for dinner?" He asked, looking into Rory's blue eyes that were sending him a thank you look.  
  
She smacked her forehead, she had gotten really good at acting. "Oh my gosh, how could I forget?" She turned to get grandparents and quickly said goodbye to them and Tristan. "How long are you in town?"  
  
"A week or two."  
  
"That's great, we need to talk again before I leave." She sent him a smile, one that she hadn't given out since her Chilton years. "But I have to go, you know where I'm staying, see you." She impulsively gave him a kiss on the cheek and hugged him then ran off to get her car.  
  
Tristan just stood there shocked to every fiber of his body. 


	3. The Date

Author's Note: Hey, yeah, another chapter. Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas/ Happy New Years to everyone in advance, cause I don't know if I will update that much this week. Umm, I really don't know what to say except thank you to smile1, Lucas'sgirl, Chadz Baby, readergurl87, Technicolor-girl, and indigo-chica for leaving very nice reviews.  
  
And to indigo-chica: I know the plot has been overdone, but I honestly didn't think people would read this, and I had to write something to get some writers block taken care of. I wanted to write, but I was stuck with my other story. By the way, you didn't sound like a bitch I knew what you meant. So thanks, and please read on.  
  
Disclaimer: Nope. Ooh, and the part where Lorelai thinks of getting a job at the Times, is kind of like what Lauren Graham said, it was just Yale instead of the Times. Sorry, that might sound confusing. The point is: It's not really mine.  
  
The next day was spent writing the article for the column. It didn't take long to type up Tristan's tips and expand on them. Rory was basically done typing up the article, unless something dramatic happened and she really did find a rich guy that she fell in love with. Little did she know she was well on her way to falling for one.  
  
It was around two pm when Rory was peacefully sipping her coffee at Luke's when she got the scare of her life. "Rory!" Tristan's hands fell onto Rory's shoulders when he announced his presence. "What is up, mi amigo?"  
  
"Nada." Rory replied, trying to wipe the coffee off of her sweater. "Look what you did."  
  
Tristan stared at the sweater. "I'll have it dry cleaned if you wish." He winked, "Remember? I'm rich?"  
  
"Yes, I remember." She just then realized it was Tristan she was talking to. At Luke's, even. "What are you doing in Stars Hollow?"  
  
He laughed; it had just dawned on her. "Just seeing their more beautiful semi-resident." And the blush was back. Even more red than ever. "I can still make you blush, surprise, surprise."  
  
"Shut up," Rory playfully scolded. "Really, what are you doing here?"  
  
"I told you, I'm here to see their most beautiful semi resident." He looked into her eyes, something he did often in the last two days. "And I'm looking at her right now."  
  
"That was a line if I ever heard one." Lorelai sat down across from Tristan at the corner table, the 'Mafia table.' "Sorry to ruin your game but my baby lives in New York." She was still looking at Tristan when she took a hold of Rory's coffee cup and started to drink.  
  
Tristan looked back, his gaze unwavering. "I know, she told me all about her apartment and how she rides the subway everyday." He looked away when Lorelai gave him a look that dared him to say more. "Well, I think I should be going. You raved about your mom yesterday and I was selfish and hogged you, so you should spend time with her."  
  
"You're babbling." Rory intervened.  
  
"No, I'm not."  
  
"Yes, you are."  
  
"Yeah, you were." Lorelai stopped the near fight with words. "That was babbling if I ever heard it. And I should know."  
  
"She's the master," Rory added.  
  
"Yes my young student." Lorelai played along. The Tristan kid looked like he was grasping every word of the fast paced banter. "What college did you go to?" She suddenly asked, jumping entirely off subject, as she usually did.  
  
After a moment of the sudden question sinking in, he replied, "I went to UNC," He paused. "My family wanted me to go the Ivy route, but as usual, I did the exact opposite."  
  
"So, you don't like being a socialite?"  
  
"Not really." He went on. "Ever since my junior year I was sort of frowned upon within the family, which is alright by me because the only people who actually know I exist are my grandfather and the butler."  
  
"That was sort of like me. Except I was very much existing to my parents, who managed to criticize my entire life and all the decisions I've made." Lorelai honestly did know how the guy felt. She felt bad about earlier then because she thought he was some rich guy. "Sorry about our first meeting, I'm Lorelai."  
  
Tristan accepted her hand, giving it a firm grip. "I'm Tristan."  
  
"Yes, that same Tristan." Rory answered her mother's question before it was even asked, which earned her a weird look from the guy at the table. "Don't ask."  
  
"Okay." Tristan stood up. "Well, I really should get going." He nodded and waved, "I'll see you around."  
  
"Is he the guy that tortured you at Chilton?" Lorelai asked once the rich guy had left the diner. "He doesn't seem that bad."  
  
Rory shook her head. "No, he's not. He's changed. But it's good."  
  
Her mom turned towards Rory. "How's the article coming?"  
  
"Good. It's almost done."  
  
"Almost?" Lorelai thought of something hilarious. After Rory's prompting, she spilled. "Okay, okay, I was just thinking of secretly getting a job at the Times and then you'd walk by and in the background is me sweeping the tiles, watching you."  
  
"I missed it here. This. All of it." Rory indulged after the two had lapsed into a very long silence that was filled with the other conversations and sounds of the other people eating in the diner. She was referring to Stars Hollow, her life there as opposed to the busy, deadline filled one in New York City. She was also referring to just sitting in Luke's with nothing to do but talk to her mother all day while drinking coffee and bugging Luke for more coffee at the same time that she was drinking it.  
  
True, New York City had the great opportunities for Rory that Stars Hollow and even Hartford didn't hold. But, it wasn't really home for her, either. She worked there, yes. She lived there, yes. But she really didn't live there.  
  
They spent almost three hours in the diner just sitting there, sipping coffee and catching up on each other's lives. They didn't even notice the time until Luke walked up to them to take their dinner order because he assumed they would be hungry, as usual. And they were.  
  
"Oh, I am so full!" Lorelai exclaimed as she was walking back to the Crap Shack with Rory. "I can hardly move. This might be the Post Dance Marathon all over again. I wonder if we can use our psychic powers to magically transport us into our house."  
  
Rory replied with, "I think that's teleportation."  
  
"I always knew Yale would make you smarter than me." Lorelai shook her head mock shamefully. "Just kidding. You were smart before those old rich, bald guys."  
  
Since they hadn't been together for a long time, the two Gilmore's decided a movie night was in order. It was long overdue, and there had been plenty of movies that came out just waiting to be mocked by the professional mockers. "Ooh, look at that hair. It's like seriously blinding." Lorelai pointed to the screen during a random movie at midnight.  
  
They had drifted off the sleep for a long time before Rory heard the phone faintly ringing. She was in her bedroom but didn't remember how she got there. They must have been so tired that they were half asleep, or asleep when Lorelai and Rory walked to their bedrooms after seven movies. "Shut up," Rory commanded the phone as she heard it keep on ringing. The ringing was getting louder, as the phone was getting nearer. Now all she had to do was answer it.  
  
"Hello? There had better be a good reason as to why you're calling here at the crack of dawn."  
  
There was a deep chuckle on the other end. "Well good morning to you too, Sunshine. But I hate to inform you that it's ten am."  
  
Rory's eyes widened. "Tristan! I'm so sorry." She paused, feeling she needed to explain. "My mom and I had a movie night last night and it was sort of tiring."  
  
"Yeah, I can see how looking at all those hot guys your mom picked out was tiring."  
  
"Are you implying my mom rents movies for the men not the content?"  
  
"Yes ma'am." Tristan countered. "But that's okay."  
  
"Cause you rent the movies for," Rory got into character for the next part, "those hot chicks, right dude? Yeah man,"  
  
Tristan laughed, seeing how Rory was right, as she always was. Oh well, he liked her even more that way. "Well then, I guess you wouldn't be interested in going out with me tonight to a movie and dinner."  
  
"Well, I'd have to think about it," Rory answered, surprising Tristan yet again. She had grown up and changed so much since high school. "Okay, I've thought about it."  
  
"And?"  
  
"And,"  
  
"Come on, you're killing me here."  
  
"Well, I don't want you to die a slow and painful death, so I guess I'll have to go tonight."  
  
"Mary, you really do wound me. Deeply as a matter of fact."  
  
Rory rolled her eyes and smiled. "Right, so seven?"  
  
"Seven it is." Tristan said his goodbyes and then hung up the phone a happier man than when he picked up the phone. In fact, he was grinning like a lovesick fool.  
  
"What was that about, my dear daughter?" Lorelai asked when she saw Rory smiling like she had won the jackpot.  
  
Rory shrugged. "Oh nothing, I've just got a date tonight."  
  
The rest of the day the Gilmore's spent it pampering themselves, trying to get rid of the aftermath of the movie night. Faces had facials, toes had toenails painted, and so on and so on. Rory was really taking advantage of the R and R vacation. It was only Thursday and Rory felt like a new person.  
  
"Hey you," she greeted her date later that night. "So, where are we headed?" She asked, once they were in the car.  
  
Tristan responded with a devilish grin. "No place special. I just want to have fun tonight." After further encouragement, he added, "We're going to see this one movie, it's a comedy. And then we're going to go out for some dinner. Or we could reverse the order."  
  
They decided on the movie first. When the two got to the theater, Tristan already had the tickets, as he had paid ahead for them. It was dark when the duo walked into the theater, so Rory couldn't tell what movie they were in. "Oh my gosh, I've wanted to see this movie! It looks hilarious," She tugged at Tristan's arm when the opening credits for 'Freaky Friday' came on.  
  
"Yeah, the guy looks like me, so that's sort of the reason I wanted to see it." Tristan laughed softly. He put an arm around Rory's shoulders and got comfortable to settle in for the movie.  
  
"That part was so hilarious." Rory gushed on the way to the car, after an hour and a half. "It's a bit nippy out, don't you think?" She pondered in a British accent.  
  
Tristan sighed and shrugged his coat off. In an equally accurate British accent, he said, "Well, if you would learn to take a coat out with you, you might be able to save yourself from the nippy weather." He felt Rory relax as he put his coat around her shoulders and pull her close. "Now you're going to have to keep me warm cause you're all I've got." He sighed with content.  
  
It was around eleven o'clock when they arrived back in Stars Hollow. Rory made Tristan drive to the bridge, where she had spent many nights and days there, reading, learning the things that got her where she was today. "Let's just sit down for a minute or two."  
  
"So you're falling for my charm, huh?" Tristan grinned, and laughed. "I'm just joking, but I always found it fun to get a rise out of you for some reason."  
  
"Yeah, well, I'm glad someone had fun." She countered.  
  
"Well, yeah." Tristan and Rory were drifting closer, their playful banter drawing them closer.  
  
Their faces were close, and still drifting closer. When they finally kissed, it wasn't really explainable. It just felt right. Tristan's heart was already racing from being in such close proximity, and Rory's brain was starting to lose all train of thought other than the guy across from her.  
  
"Well, that was, that was," Tristan tried to find the words to describe the immense high he was feeling right then.  
  
"Don't worry, I know," Rory breathed.  
  
They slowly got up and walked back to his car, walking slowly, savoring each quiet moment that passed. When they got in the driveway of the Crap Shack, Tristan walked Rory to the door and gave her a quick kiss, promising to call her the next day. She knew he would, he wasn't that type of guy anymore. 


	4. The Article

Author's Note: This is the last chapter.  Ending kinda sucks, but I'm living with it.  Thank you for all of your kind reviews for this story.  It has really helped, and I have wrote another chapter for the Just Roommates story, except it's not that great, but I'll type it up and post it, just so you can say that I actually updated once this year.  Anyhow, thank you to Chelle5, Alicia Jo, ally, tvgeek401, kisses, smile1, Technicolor-girl, and readergurl87 for all of your positiveness.

Oh yeah, major note thingy here: I am not a journalist, I don't even think I'm that great at writing, so the "article" that she writes is mine, and I know that newspapers probably wouldn't really have articles written like that, but it was an attempt.  So, yeah.  Please read on.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

The next morning instead of waking up the peace and quiet of Stars Hollow and the birds chirping in the April morning, Rory Gilmore woke up to an interrogation.  "So, what did you do last night?  What time did you get in?  Did you have fun?  Was he a gentleman?  Cause if he wasn't I'll go wring his neck.  And most importantly, was he a good kisser?"  Lorelai spoke faster than the speed of light, sipping her ninth cup of joe that morning.

"What?"  Rory woke up slowly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.  She hadn't gotten much sleep that night, because she had gotten in around midnight, and didn't fall asleep until two because she was on a high from the mind-blowing kiss.

"I said, details.  Everything."  Her mother responded.

Rory rolled over, facing the older woman.  "Well, we saw 'Freaky Friday,' and then we went out to dinner."  She shrugged.  "That's about it."

"And the kiss?"

"What makes you so sure there was a kiss?"

"You're avoiding the topic."  Lorelai nodded confidently.  "Major tip off."

Rory had a dreamy look on her face; with only one kiss she was sixteen again.  "The kiss was," she paused, trying to find the words.  "Everything I'd ever want."

"Hmm, so the kiss was good."  Lorelai saw her daughter had a look in her eyes that she hadn't seen in a while.

The look stayed there until the day before she had to leave Stars Hollow.  Tristan was at the diner with Rory having lunch while Lorelai sat at the counter talking to Luke.  "So, what are we going to do about us?  Cause you go back to your life in New York and I go back to my life in North Carolina."  Tristan had stayed here and went to UNC after he got out of military school and started a business there.

"Well, we go back to our lives, don't we?"  Rory wasn't as sure as she sounded.  Inside, she hoped that the week of her R and R wouldn't end so they could be together.  But life isn't always a fairytale.  "I mean, we can still see each other and stuff."

Tristan's heart was now into tiny little pieces.  With two sentences all of the emotions that he had gathered in the past week were now leaking out.  "Rory, our lives are now too intertwined to go back to our old lives."  Over the week they had poured out their souls to each other, and had started to date.  The next three words were something that he had felt ever since he was a teenager.  Only now, the feelings were more prominent.  "I love you."

"What?"  Rory's eyes went wide from the stare she had been sharing with Tristan.  She hadn't expected the words.  Not quite yet.

Lorelai was sitting at the counter overhearing this conversation "unintentionally."  She could almost hear Tristan's heart breaking even more.  She could also hear the fear in Rory's voice.  It was almost as if Rory was expecting a replay of Dean even though that had happened a long time ago.

"I said I love you."  Tristan leaned back in his chair, letting go of Rory's hands.  He was beginning to realize that Rory hadn't asked for a clarification.  She wasn't feeling the same way he felt about her.  "But that's okay.  I think I have a plane to catch."  He announced after what felt like five minutes of staring at each other.  Rory didn't even notice him leave, but Lorelai did.

She had followed him out of the diner.  "Tristan, don't go.  Rory's just confused."  Lorelai thought of a reason.  Rory was in love with Tristan, she knew it, but couldn't say it.  It was the 'three little words phobia' she had gotten from Lorelai.

"No, she's not confused."  Tristan looked on sadly.  "I think it would be best if I left."

And so the both went their separate ways.  Tristan went back to his business filled life in North Carolina and Rory went back to her deadline filled life in New York.  They were both missing each other terribly.  They also both wished that their last conversation had gone a different direction than it had.

"So, how did the article come along?"  Mr. Beck asked when he first saw Rory at the Times again.  She was different in a way.  Preoccupied with something, he thought.  If only he knew what.  He looked at Liz, who was standing next to her desk and she only shrugged.

When he left, Liz started to slowly ask questions.  "So, did you see your mom?"

"Yeah."  Rory replied, sounding a little absentminded.  "It was nice."

The rest of the day went on like that, Rory always being to preoccupied to worry about her work.  She just sat and looked out the window at the park across the street.  She looked at the little kids and saw how free they were, they had no responsibilities, only to clean up their toys.  They didn't have the burden of knowing someone loved them and not being able to voice their opinion back.  She really did have a phobia, it seemed.

Back in North Carolina, Tristan was acting the same way Rory was.  He was preoccupied.  Only, it wasn't the same thoughts he was preoccupied with.  His mind was on overdrive thinking about Rory and the times they had spent together.  He even thought about Chilton and the crappy way he treated her.  But, he tried to go about his business as usual.  And as usual, he failed due to the fact that Rory was on his mind.

It was three am in New York City and Rory Gilmore was sitting at her desk, staring at her computer screen.  Her article was due tomorrow and her thoughts had changed on how to get a rich guy.  All you had to do was be yourself.

"Excuse me, but shouldn't you be at home?"  A voice startled Rory.  She looked up and saw Mr. Beck looking down at her.  "Didn't I warn you that you would end up like me if you pulled too many all-nighters?"  He questioned.

"Yes sir, but it's just that I wrote my article before I put any thought into it, and now if I submit it like it is, all of my writing would be a lie."  She thought back to her first day of work.  "Didn't you tell me on my first day that I needed to be truthful to myself when I wrote, otherwise it would be a lie?"

"Yes, I did."  He sat down in the chair next to Rory's desk.  "Why would your writing be a lie if you submit it right now?"

Rory thought back to the previous week.  "Because I wrote down all these tips on how to get a rich guy when the only one you need is be yourself.  I know that firsthand."

Mr. Beck seemed to think it over for a moment.  "You do, do you?"  She nodded.  "Well then, get writing.  I'm going to expect it on my desk first thing tomorrow morning."  He then got up and walked down to his office where he too, was working.

It took Rory two hours to re-write the article.  When she was finished, she printed it out and knocked on Mr. Beck's door where he was still working on the next day's paper.  "Come in," he responded.

Opening the door, she handed him her article confidently.  "There is my article.  And it is the first thing I've done this morning."  She smiled, and sat down after Beck motioned to.

After reading the first two sentences, Beck was hooked.  He kept reading the article that one of his best writers just submitted.  It was unlike anything Rory had ever written before.  What Rory usually wrote were facts.  This time, her writing was from the heart.  "Front page," was all he said when he finished reading her piece of work.  He looked up and had a proud smile on his face.  "You know, maybe you should end up like me because I think you'll make a great editor after I retire."  He smiled slightly.

When Rory was dismissed from the office, she went back to her desk and laid her head down, there was no use in going home now, her shift would start in about a half hour.  When she closed her eyes all she could picture was Tristan living his daily life in North Carolina.  But when she tried to fight images, she couldn't.  For some reason, she had to see him.

Liz was startled by what she saw at her friend's desk a half hour later, at six am.  Rory was sleeping soundly at her desk with a copy of the New York Times next to it.  However, that image isn't what startled her.  It was the headline on the paper.  It read: 'The Secret Is Out: Be Yourself.' She quickly glanced at the article and saw that Rory wrote it.

Another man was reading the article on a bench in the park across the street from the Times building.  He was especially intrigued because of the topic and how it was written.  He hadn't quite worked up the courage to walk into the building yet, so he decided to read.  Every so often he would run a hand through his blond hair that had always been unruly.

Many people want a rich guy to love them.  They think that there are many secrets, but there aren't.  In fact, there's only one.  The only tip on how to get a rich guy to fall on love with you, or any guy for that matter, is to be yourself.  I experienced this firsthand last week.  

_I know what you're thinking.  "How can she fall in love in a week?"  The truth is, I fell in love again with the same man I was in love with when I was sixteen.  However, he didn't know it at the time, and I had no idea that he liked me.  Yes, he's rich.  But you would never know if you ran into him walking down the street._

I ran into him at the country club in Hartford, Connecticut last week and he gave me a bunch of tips on how to get a rich guy.  One of the last tips he gave me was "be a Mary."  In high school, he always called me Mary.  Maybe because of the fact that I was so innocent, but it was his name for me.  Not just because of my qualities, but because I was from a small town, wasn't very rich and because I always saw the best in people, whether or not they deserved it.

The only person I didn't see the best in was him.  He was always giving me a hard time and calling me Mary, which was something I despised, only on the surface.  Inside, it was a different story.  But when I ran into him at the country club, he wasn't a rich kid who called me Mary.  I found out that he only called me that because he liked me.  A rich guy had liked me.

I went to high school being known as the small town girl who was very innocent.  Tristan fell in love with the fact that I was myself.  I didn't try to get his attention, if anything; I tried to get away from it.  I didn't try to become a popular girl just because he was the most popular guy in school.  I didn't try anything, and he fell in love with the fact that I didn't want to be a socialite.

So in answer to Marge's column on how to get a rich guy, all you need to do is be yourself.  If you lie to a guy just for love, then you're lying to yourself.  If I could turn back the hands of time, just so I could tell Tristan that I loved him, I would.  But I can't, so I would like to dedicate this article to people who have found their love, people who are still looking, and people who have love, but can't express it.

Rory woke up to murmurs of conversations, and Liz laughing, and crying, at least that's what it sounded like.  She looked up and saw most of the staff crowding around her desk.  They had all read the article and saw the potential this woman had.  They also were applauding for the fact that she wrote from the heart and not from a textbook.  "Thanks," she looked down, blushing a bit.

Once the crowd had gone away, Liz saw a blond man looking around looking for something.  "Can I help you?"  She asked, walking towards him.

He looked as if he was just snapped out of a daydream.  His blond hair looked as if it hadn't been combed that morning and he was dressed in jeans and a blue button down shirt.  "Do you know where Rory is?"  Liz pointed to Rory's desk, which was currently supporting her head.  "Thanks," He smiled genuinely.

He approached Rory's desk and sat down in the chair that was right next to her.  Liz had only been occupying that spot moments before.  "Do you always sleep in?"  He asked quietly, getting ready to read the paper again.

Just when he had opened it up to the sports section, a tiny voice asked, "Is that the only section of the paper guys read?  Sports?"

Tristan tilted the paper down so he could see Rory.  "No.  I also read the front page.  It was a highly interesting article."

"Sorry, but I didn't use any of the tips you gave me."  Rory apologized.  It seemed like Tristan had never said those three words, and they hadn't parted ways a couple days ago.

He shrugged.  "It's okay.  You used one, and it was the most important."  The man leaned forward and whispered in Rory's ear.  "I'm sorry."

"Nope, I'm the one that couldn't say I love you."  Rory explained.  She felt the need to explain.  "I've got a phobia of the 'love' word."

Tristan chuckled lightly.  "Okay, you can work on that, because I've got to live in NYC for a while."  He smiled.  "My business is opening a new branch, and I volunteered to head the project."

Rory nodded.  "Okay then.  If you're here for a while, you are the one who is going to take me out for breakfast."  She got her stuff.

Just as they were about to walk out, Mr. Beck stopped them.  "Good article, kid.  Now, since Joe is on vacation, you are the one who will be writing about the economic status of Iraq."  Rory grinned widely, thanking heaven that it wasn't Marge's column again.

As they headed out the front door of the Times, Rory said, ever so casually, "By the way Tristan, I love you."  She smiled and walked ahead of him a couple feet.  Behind her, Tristan grinning for a different reason, he had finally gotten his Mary.  The girl he had bantered with for most of his time at Chilton.  And, he felt different about her caving in than he did years ago.  Hmm, maybe he was meant to break into that safe.

Okay, the end.  Thanks for reading if you got this far.  So yeah, review if you want.  Peace.


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